


Heartbeat

by HarryTwinks (AndroidHeaven)



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, dele is blunt af, eric is too nice, like very gay fluff, winksy is a disaster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndroidHeaven/pseuds/HarryTwinks
Summary: Eric has been feeling down lately and Winksy wants to cheer him up somehow. He tries baking something for him. Emphasis on 'tries'.
Relationships: Dele Alli/Son Heung-min - briefly hinted, Eric Dier/Harry Winks
Kudos: 19





	Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there. I'm frustrated with last day's results of the match but oh well, here's a fluff to maybe cheer you up.

Harry never liked seeing anyone feeling down. When it was his friends then, he absolutely despised it. He couldn’t stand seeing them depressed about something, thus Winks would always try to comfort them with words the best he could. This time was no different, in fact, it was maybe making Winksy even sadder because it was Eric who had been feeling down lately. Although everyone was comforting him with words and other small gestures, Harry felt like that wasn’t enough and that he needed to do something about it. He hates seeing Eric feeling down; it always elicited a pang in his chest. 

Since Dele and Eric were very good friends, Winks went to Dele to ask him for his opinion on what he should do or what Eric would appreciate. Dele had suggested him to try cooking something for Eric since he loves to eat and is eating all the time. The thing is, Harry couldn’t cook even if his life depended on it, he barely knows how to make rice without setting his kitchen on fire. Therefore, he decided that he was going to try baking something for Eric instead. They shouldn’t eat sweets much because of their healthy diet, especially Eric who always ate healthy food, but it’s not as if one sweet was going to hurt anyone. 

Right after training, Winksy went buy the ingredients he needed and then returned home. He got himself comfy and ready, then proceeded to his kitchen and started browsing on his phone for recipes. He decided on a cupcake because it was something cute and sweet, especially the meaning of baking it for someone else. Besides, that Pinterest recipe made it look very easy to make. Harry wasted no time and began his work, trying to follow every single detail that was on the video recipe. 

Harry soon found out that he was very bad at following instructions if it wasn’t football related. He managed to get the measures wrong several times, sometimes even mistaking when he was supposed to use a teaspoon or a tablespoon. Not to mention he didn’t understand some of the terms that were used in the recipe, thus he had to google them to understand what on earth he was supposed to do. He kept going with the recipe, feeling extremely unsure but pouring his heart into the process because he really wanted to give a cupcake to Eric that was made by him specifically for that man. It turned out that this was going to be much more difficult than he expected. 

The first batter he made seemed more liquid than it should be, therefore he discarded it in order to try a new one. The second batter looked good, but he managed to get it burnt when he put in the oven because he forgot it there as he was focusing very hard on how to make the cupcake’s frosting in the meantime. The third attempt he managed to get the batter right and properly baked, yet he managed to mess up the frosting that got all liquid and ended up ruining the muffin part. Harry felt incredibly hopeless and realised that he might be just as bad at baking as he is at cooking. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to give up that easily. He was determined to bake a cupcake for Eric even if it takes the entire night. 

It did end up taking the entire night. Harry managed to amazingly screw it up so many times that he kept changing the cupcake recipes that he was following to see if he could manage at least one of them. The frosting was the most painful part, he had even learned how to get the cake part right, but he always got the frosting wrong. Yet, after long hours, he finally managed to get it correct and to bake a proper cupcake. The cupcake was a light brown and the frosting he had coloured it a pastel pink, he even put some colourful sprinkles on it, and the paper surrounding it was a pastel blue. It looked amazing and Harry hoped that it tasted too. He finally managed to get out of the kitchen and to his bed to get himself a couple of hours of sleep before having to wake up again. 

Harry arrived earlier than usual at training that day, knowing how Eric usually did that. Winksy had some dark circles under his eyes and he kept yawning every five seconds, but he didn’t let that bother him. He was way too excited to finally being able to give Eric his cupcake although he was quite nervous about it, unsure if Eric was going to like it. Still, he wasn’t going to back out now, not when he had put so much effort into it already. Winks found his way to Dier who was alone since most of the guys haven’t even arrived yet, and suddenly started feeling a bit shy. Eric was wearing that beanie hat of his that made Winksy’s heart flutter at how good he looked with it, distracting him from his thoughts momentarily. Winks wasn’t sure why he got nervous all of a sudden, but he hadn’t even thought about what he was going to tell Eric in order to make it not weird. They greeted each other normally and Eric noticed how Winksy was holding something and how he was trying to say something too. 

“Uhm, so... I-I don’t know if you like cupcakes, but I made a few the other day and thought that maybe you’d like it b-because I accidentally baked too much s-so...” 

That was a blatant lie. He spent the entire night baking just this one specifically for Eric, yet for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to confess that to him. Still, there was no way Eric didn’t notice the unusual dark circles under his heavy tired eyes, and there was no way he didn’t notice how Winksy was using that trembling voice of his that he used whenever he was nervously lying out of embarrassment. 

Harry felt his heart pounding in his chest as Eric looked a bit surprised, but soon felt relieved when he accepted it with a kind smile. 

“I do. Thank you, Winksy.” 

Winksy smiled still feeling a bit nervous, expecting Eric to take a bite of the sweet for him to see if he liked it or not. Harry really hopes that his action cheers up Dier even if a tiny little bit. Eric took a bite of the cupcake, realising how Winksy was looking at him expectantly, and then slightly nodded his head in approval, telling Harry that it tasted good and then even congratulated him. Winksy couldn’t help but smile dumbly in response; he was beyond glad that the result of his hard work managed to please Eric even if a bit. 

It took some time for Winksy to properly function again while they chatted as Eric finished eating the cupcake in the process, his mind still captivated in the delightful feeling of the situation. Somehow, the atmosphere seemed much lighter and softer as they talked. Eric thanked him again for it and even pulled Winksy for a hug in gratitude. Harry loved to hug Eric like that, because due to their height difference he would lay his head on Eric’s chest, and therefore when they pressed together, he could hear Eric’s heartbeat and that had such a soothing fulfilling feeling to it. Eric’s heart always sped up a bit when they hugged for some reason, along with his own. 

Despite all the trouble Winksy went through to get to bake him a cupcake, he really cherished the outcome. In fact, it served as inspiration for him to want to make more of them. Maybe that way he could lift Eric’s humour bit by bit until he was feeling okay again. Therefore, Harry decided to bake a cupcake for him every now and then, always delivering it to him before training as a morning treat to brighten his day. Winks always tried to innovate on the colours and sprinkles, always making it cute and colourful in many decorative ways possible; sometimes he even used tiny heart-shaped sprinkles to make it more lovely. Every time Eric smiled and thanked him before eating it all and then they hugged; Winksy always took this opportunity to listen to his heartbeat. Eric even ruffled his hair appraisingly sometimes, making Winksy’s heart melt. Harry didn’t even try to come up with excuses anymore since there weren’t any, he’d just go to Eric and give him a cupcake and hoped for him to enjoy it, no explanation or excuse needed. 

Since Winks had been in a good mood lately, happily baking cupcakes for Eric whenever he had the time, he decided to extend his generosity because he was enjoying baking a lot. He wanted to thank Dele for giving him the idea of making something for Eric and therefore decided to make a few extra cupcakes that day to give to him, and maybe to some of the other teammates as well since he’s at it. 

He arrived early in the training again, just like he usually did when he planned on giving Eric a cupcake, but this time decided to give it to Dele first in sheer gratitude for his help. Winks delivered the sweet to him, earning a grateful thanks in return. He was about to make his way towards Eric to give him his one, which was the cutest and most colourful cupcake, when Harry was suddenly stopped by Dele’s words that startled him. 

“This tastes like shit!" 

“W-What?” 

Dele cringed as he took another bite to confirm it. For a moment Winks thought that Dele was teasing him, but the disgust on his face was clear and he sounded serious. Dele was never one to hide his true thoughts and never minded being blunt about them either. 

“I thought you wanted to cheer him up not poison him, Winksy.” 

Winks was completely dumbfounded. 

“B-But Eric said that he likes it!” 

“Oh god, Eric must really love you if he keeps eating these dreadful things you call cupcake.” 

Harry blushed at the implication of his words but was also extremely confused and surprised. He wondered if it was that single cupcake and gave another one for him to try, but Dele had come to the same conclusion. It must be that there’s something that Dele doesn’t like in there, surely it must be a ‘Dele has a weird taste’ thing, maybe Dele wasn’t into sweets. Winks was no pro, but there was no way his cupcake tasted that bad... right? 

Just to be sure, since Harry was completely baffled with Dele’s opinion, he decided to give his cupcakes to the ones who were already there for them to try as well. Winksy gave one to Sonny, Jan and Kane. He gave one of his cupcakes at a time, wanting to focus on each person’s reactions separately. Although they were less harsh with their words (unlike Dele who kept telling Winks that ‘if you made these cupcakes with love then your love tastes like garbage’), they all came to the same conclusion and politely told Winksy that it does taste awful. 

Winks was beyond flabbergasted. He never thought that his cupcakes could taste this badly, moreover that Eric didn’t say so. Winksy had focused so much on the appearance and consistency of them that he totally forgot about the taste itself. Eric had always told him that it was good and kept praising him for it, and even ate every bit of cupcake he baked, thus Harry never bothered to check the taste. He was so convinced that it was good because of all the time he spent making them, that he got blinded by his efforts and couldn’t see how bad they truly were. There was no way Eric had an amazing different alien-type of horrible taste for food and actually liked his cupcakes. 

To say that Harry felt embarrassed was an understatement. He suddenly got so self-conscious and worried and deeply ashamed that he didn’t know how to function anymore. Winks took a good look of the remaining cupcake that was intended to Eric, the beautiful colourful one that he worked very hard to make, and felt like crying. All his efforts were stupid in vain because he couldn’t bake anything after all. He threw that cupcake away and spared Eric’s stomach from more misery, carrying on with his day as if he never baked anything so wantonly to make Eric happy, trying to pretend that it didn’t bother him how much of a failure he managed to be. 

Although Harry was ashamed and saddened, he was also amazed and heartened plus a bit flustered by the fact that Eric pretended to like his cupcakes. Winks has no idea why he didn’t tell him the truth like everyone else did. Maybe they were so bad beyond repair that Eric felt pity and decided to keep quiet. Still, Eric wasn’t the type of person to hide his thoughts from his friends out of pity. Eric would most certainly tell the person who baked something awful that it didn’t taste too good. He was gentle instead of blunt like Dele, but he wasn’t going to lie to make the person feel better. Then why on earth didn’t Eric tell him that it was bad? 

Despite being discombobulated and disappointed in himself at first, Harry decided that he wasn’t going to give up, not now. He was still set on trying to make Eric feel better and not worse, and therefore he was going to make a proper cupcake that will truly taste good to cheer him up. Maybe Eric always ate his cupcakes because he still had faith in his baking abilities, so Winksy wasn’t going to let him down. 

Winks went to Dele once more to ask for his aid, this time begging for him to help Winksy bake a proper cupcake that wasn’t a total disaster. Dele confessed that he wasn’t that great either but knew someone who was and agreed to help. Dele showed up at Winks’ house as set with Sonny alongside, the one who was better at these things according to Dele, compared to them at least. Harry was extremely grateful for their will to help his horrible condition in the kitchen. 

It was a day off, hence they had plenty of time to spend in Harry’s kitchen that morning. They managed to screw up the recipes a few times themselves, but luckily Sonny and Dele were much better at following instructions, and whenever they got something wrong, they were quick to fix it, unlike Winksy who had no idea what he should do when those things happened. They made several different cupcakes from many different recipes from all over the internet with different ingredients, every time one was ready they’d taste it to see if it was good enough and were quite perfectionist on it too, especially Sonny. They also played around a lot, mostly Dele and Sonny who kept teasing each other and even engaged themselves in a bake-off, trying to get the best cupcake possible along Harry who was mixed between the two, which he thought it was very adorable. 

When they perfected their recipes and finished their cupcakes, they laid them all on the table and tasted every single one of the cake and frosting to see which one was the best and then decided on a winner, which was the one Sonny tutored Winksy into making, and decided to go with that recipe. Winksy tried his best to recreate that sweet again with Sonny’s and Dele’s help and finally managed to bake a proper cupcake. Dele and Sonny didn’t even need to guide him on the decoration and colouring because Winksy was very good at that at least, his cupcake looking as sweet as it tasted. The frosting was a pastel blue and the cake part a pastel pink, the sprinkles he put were colourful and he even used the mini heart-shaped ones as well, the paper wrapping around the cupcake a pastel yellow. Winks was eternally grateful for Dele’s and Sonny’s help and couldn’t wait for the next day to finally give it to Eric. 

In fact, he truly couldn’t wait. Harry really wanted to give that fresh cupcake right away to him. As soon as Dele and Sonny left, he texted Eric asking if he could drop by his house for a moment. It was early in the afternoon, and Winks really hoped that Dier wasn’t busy with anything and was at his house. Eric texted him back a few minutes later, letting him know that he could feel free to stop by his house anytime. Winksy smiled happily at the response and wasted no time in getting himself and the cupcake ready before making his way to Eric’s home. 

Harry had been in such a rush to get to Eric’s house that he barely took the time to properly pick the clothes he was wearing and ended up choosing the comfiest and baggiest ones. He had a white sweatshirt on that was clearly oversized for him, at least two sizes bigger than his body, the sleeves going beyond where his arms could even reach, certainly making him look even smaller and cuter. Winks didn’t mind it though; he was way too focused on the delivery when he knocked on Eric’s door. 

Winks couldn’t contain his smile the moment Eric opened the door for him and invited him in. Dier was wearing a light-grey long-sleeved t-shirt that looked perfect on him and same coloured pants, only on his socks. Eric noticed how Harry had something in his hands and already figured what it was, also noticed how Winksy was very excited for some reason. Eric guided them to sit down on his white couch as they exchanged a few words and tried to stop his dogs from jumping joyfully on Harry. Winksy’s smile never faltered as he happily told Eric how he had made another cupcake and asked for him to try it, handing the cute sweet to him. 

Eric gladly accepted it as always, thanking Winks in the process for his kind action. Harry always observed Eric taking the first bite of his cupcake, but this time, he was staring much more expectantly, his eyes fixed on him to notice any single hidden expression. Dier approached the cupcake to his lips and took a small bite. Winksy managed to notice how his eyes slightly widened at the sudden taste. Eric was clearly surprised. 

“Now it tastes good right?” Winksy chuckled softly. “You should had told me that they weren’t any good before.” 

Eric chewed silently, avoiding Harry’s gaze as he realised that he got caught. 

“I guess you didn’t want to hurt me.” Harry continued as he noticed Eric’s silence. “In a way, you are sweeter than the sweets I tried baking.” 

Winks smiled purely, knowing all too well that what he was saying was extremely cheesy and should be embarrassing to say, but didn’t care one bit because it was the truth. Eric finally looked back at him with that comment, seeming a bit mesmerised by those words, by how Harry smiled at him through them. 

“You’ve been trying very hard to cheer me up every day.” Eric slightly dipped the tip of his index finger in the frosting as he spoke. “I think you’re the sweet one.” 

He finished saying by smearing the tip of Winksy’s nose with the pastel blue frosting. Winks felt his face heating up as he blushed at Eric’s words and action, avoiding the fond gaze directed to him. Harry chuckled nervously before taking the frosting from his nose and quickly guiding it to Eric’s face instead, smearing his cheek playfully as he giggled. 

They know that the cupcake was made to be eaten, but they couldn’t stop themselves from engaging in a playful small fight of smearing frosting on one another’s face; besides, the cupcake had already fulfilled its meaning, which in the end was always more important than the taste itself. They kept chuckling and laughing in unison at their own stupidity, their faces a bit sticky where the sweet frosting had been. They eventually finally stopped their shenanigans and proceeded to try cleaning themselves the best they could, until Eric had pulled Winksy down on the couch for a hug. 

It had always been like this. Harry delivers the cupcake, Eric eats it and then they hug. Yet this time was different. Eric had pulled him down for them to lie down on the couch, pressing Winksy’s back against his chest, hugging him from behind practically in a spooning position. From that embrace, Winks could feel all the unspoken gratitude Eric was trying to tell him, letting him know how much Harry’s actions were extremely appreciated. Winksy couldn’t help but smile, loving feeling safe and complete in Eric’s arms, loving how he managed to make him feel a bit better. 

Despite in this position Harry being unable to reach his head towards Eric’s chest to listen to his heart as he usually did, he could still clearly feel the heartbeat against his back because it was beating loudly and intensely, reaching Winksy’s body since they were flushed together like that. Harry was no different; he felt the exact same as Eric was feeling, and he wanted to let him know that. Winks reached for one of Eric’s arms that hugged him and gently grabbed his wrist. He guided it to his own chest, pressing Eric’s hand against where Winksy's heart was pounding uncontrollably fast, letting Eric know about his true feelings because heartbeats can’t lie. 

Eric immediately understood the meaning behind Winks’ action, and Harry could feel how his breath hitched upon realisation. Eric tightened their embrace, holding Winksy impossibly closer in his arms, and that only made Winks feel his intense heartbeat even more, especially now that it had started to beat faster. Harry never moved Eric’s hand away from his chest, tangling their fingers together in the process. It was the dawn of realisation of their mutuality, and none of them knew how to properly react at that moment, too busy captivated in the soft feeling of redamancy. 

Harry felt gentle kisses being pressed to the back of his head and to his nape, Eric’s affections being displayed by his lips onto his skin, the warm soft pecks caressing the brunet. Winks couldn’t help but shiver, wanting to chase those lips that reached him so beautifully. He turned around in the couch to face Eric, stopping the gentle kisses directed to his neck and instead hoping them to reach his own lips. It didn’t take long for Eric to realise that, the way they looked fondly at each other telling and asking everything they wanted to say. Eric broke the small distance between their faces, reaching for Winksy’s lips as he pressed a soft peck before moving to properly kiss him. Harry opened his mouth to allow Eric’s tongue to explore his cave; he could taste the sugar on Eric’s lips from the cupcake and even a bit of the strawberry flavour on his tongue. It was truly a sweet kiss; the sweetest one someone could ever have, filled with unspoken love. 

When they broke the warm comforting kiss, they both look incredibly dazed for the few next seconds before they managed to regain consciousness and come back to the real world. Winks didn’t stop himself from smiling, feeling so happy that his awful bakery has brought him to this moment, to this feeling. He was really glad that he made Eric smile too. 

“I promise I’ll learn baking properly.” Winksy softly broke the silence, imagining how it would be to finally actually please Eric with food on a regular basis and not give him the awful things he had been making except for this last cupcake. 

“You don’t have to. You’ve done more than enough already.” Eric chuckled in response. “Besides, you’re enough.” 

Harry felt his freckled cheeks growing a bit pink at the last comment. 

“But I want to... It’s fun and I enjoy making you stuff.” Winks mildly contested before remarking sadly yet truthfully. “Even though I’m awful at it.” 

“They weren’t _that_ bad.” 

“Even Sonny told me that my baking is shit.” Winks chuckled but felt a bit flustered by how Eric still tried to comfort him. 

Winks really wants to keep making Eric happier, and baking him sweets in order to achieve that is included in his wishes. Maybe they could even bake together some time, it would surely be a tender moment. Eric noticed how Winksy spaced out smiling as they had fallen into a comfortable silence, and wondered what was on his mind to make him look so blissed and happy like that. He couldn’t help himself and broke the distance between their lips once more, pressing a soft kiss to Winksy’s smiling lips. 

Winks was truly the sweetest sweet Eric could ever have. 

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll use the fact that I’m an INFP as excuse to why my fluffs are so cheesy. 
> 
> Just a friendly reminder that English is not my native language therefore I had some searching to do in order to learn what are the English words for some bakery things so I'm not sure if I got them all correct (I spent way too long researching the difference of dough and batter since in Brazilian Portuguese it’s the same word ksjskjsksksa same for frosting and icing) but I hope you understood it anyway :)


End file.
